Top Takeaways from the National IPM Coordinating Committee Presentations

Here, in no particular order, are some of the top takeaways from the speakers or discussions at the National IPM Coordinating Committee meeting in October in Washington, D.C.

• Public health, sustainable agriculture and invasive species are challenges worldwide, and IPM is critical to addressing all of them.
• The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is trying to slow the development of resistance by including more resistance-management information on pesticide labels, and issuing non-binding guidance about product use and training to increase resistance management. 
• To expand adoption of IPM, it’s necessary to show obvious economic benefits.
• The appeal and understanding of IPM needs to extend beyond insects.
• The most effective way to advocate – for IPM or anything - is with one voice.
• IPM needs a unified message and meaningful common measures to document its impact.
• In developing a unified voice or vision, focus on issues where people already broadly agree instead of the areas where they disagree.
• It’s easier to advocate for fewer, larger budget lines that collapse several programs into a single line-item, but then agency implementation of those programs becomes critical.
• There is no new money on Capitol Hill.